I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, every photographer needs a standard prime lens. The standard lens offers a natural field of view (FOV), similar to what your eyes see, when mounted to the camera. Composition with such a lens is painless and easy.
How Large Is Your Iris?
Standard prime lenses typically have an aperture that is much larger than zoom lenses.
How much larger?
A standard prime lens typically has an aperture that allows 2 more stops of light than pro-level zoom lenses. When comparing a standard prime lens to a consumer zoom the difference is often 3 stops or more.
How will two stops or more exposure help?
- Shoot in candlelight: I can not be held responsible for resulting fires.
I don’t endorse using any combustible fuel type light source
- Photograph in a dark house without flash. Most homes, in terms of camera exposure, are dark places.
- Increase the number of pops your flash’s batteries can provide
- Decrease the camera’s ISO setting, this will result in more detailed photos
- Increase shutter speed to ensure sharp rendering of moving subjects
- Engage in street photography at night
In addition to exposure benefits the larger aperture will render less depth of field than a lens with a smaller aperture. A 50mm prime lens can isolate your subject in a wash of bokeh.
Candid Moment On The Set of Deadbeat - Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 @ F1.6
Pretty isn’t it?
35mm Or 50mm, Which Lens?
All of this sounds great but which lens provides a normal FOV? Most digital SLRs fall into two sensor categories, crop sensor and full frame. If your camera is a full frame or in the following list choose a 50mm lens.
- Canon EOS 5D series
- Canon 1Ds series
- Nikon D700
- Nikon D3x
- Sony Alpha 900/850
If your camera is not in the above list your camera probably uses a crop type sensor. A 35mm lens will provide a standard FOV when mounted on these cameras. Below are some examples of crop sensor cameras.
- Canon 7D
- Canon 40D, 50D
- Canon Digital Rebel series
- Nikon D3000, D5000
- Nikon D300, D300s
- Nikon D60, D40, D40x
50mm Lens Choices
Both camera manufacturers, Canon and Nikon, offer 50mm prime lenses that fit the bill. I’ve personally used the Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 lens and it is a great optic. It is a little soft wide open but it really starts to pick up by F/2.
Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 Lens
Nikon introduced their 50mm f/1.4G SIC SW lens in 2008. This newer G series lens is the successor to the older 50mm f/1.4D AF lens. I’ve heard the older lens is a little soft at maximum aperture but the newer G series lens is reported to be amazing at F/1.4. Sigma, and this may be the only time you read about a Sigma lens on this blog, makes a fantastic 50mm F/1.4 lens that has smooth bokeh and sharp images.
A review of the Sigma 50mm F/1.4 lens is coming soon
Both Nikon and Canon offer a 50mm F/1.8 prime lens. Both lenses are about 100 dollars, built cheap and offer more optical performance than you would expect for the price. These plastic fantastic lenses render images that knock your socks off. Using these lenses on your camera will require some care as they are not built very well.
35mm Lens Choices
The hot story in 35mm prime lenses is the Nikon 35mm F/1.8 DX lens. Nikon was the first of the “big two” that acknowledged the need for a fast normal prime lens designed specifically for crop sensor cameras. This gem of a lens is built well and can peel the paint off the walls with its blistering resolution. Priced around 200 dollars the Nikon 35mm F/1.8 DX lens is a great deal.
Canon doesn’t have a 35mm designed specifically for crop sensor cameras. That doesn’t mean that crop sensor Canon shooters are out of luck. Canon does make a 35mm F/2 lens that works pretty well. If you are feeling spendy pick up Canon 35mm F/1.4 “L” series lens. The Canon 35mm F/1.4 L lens is world class but it cost more than most crop sensor cameras. Keep your fingers crossed that Canon realizes the demand for a dedicated crop sensor standard prime lens.
If I haven’t mentioned the camera in question and you are not sure what standard lens to choose please let me know by posting a comment below and I will try to get back to you. Happy Holidays!
Please note that you can find many of the lenses mentioned here in our aStore . Your support is appreciated
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